V. 
BLACK-BACKED TREECREEPER. 
buff ; lower aspect of tail blackish, somewhat paler at the tips of the feathers. 
Eyes dark chocolate-brown, bill and feet black. Total length 164 mm. ; culmen 
13, wing 91, tail 66, tarsus 21. Figured. Collected on the Walsh River, Eastern 
North Queensland, on the 27th of April, 1913, and is barroni. 
Adult female. General colour of the upper-surface dull black, including the entire top 
of the head, nape, back, rump, upper tail-coverts, tail, scapulars, and the greater 
part of the -wings ; outer edge of wing and bastard-wing buffy-white ; flight-quills 
(which are in moult) dark brown with a broad band of buff, chiefly on the inner-webs ; 
lores, superciliary-streak, and sides of face buffy-white with more or less black on 
the ear-coverts ; «a black spot in front of the eye, the feathers of which are bristly 
in texture; a small patch of chestnut on the lore-neck with white centres to the 
feathers; breast and sides of neck drab-grey; abdomen and sides of body sepia- 
brown streaked with white and more narrowly with black ; flanks and thighs umber- 
brown ; under tail-coverts marked with black and white; axillaries and under 
wing-coverts whitish-buff more or less dotted with pale brown on the latter ; under¬ 
surface of flight-quills hair-brown with a patch of pale buff ; lower aspect of tail 
blackish, slightly paler at the tips. Eyes dark brown, bill and feet black. Total 
length 166 mm. ; culmen 13, wing 91, tail 65, tarsus 21. Figured. Collected on the 
Walsh River, Eastern North Queensland, on the 29th of May, 1913. 
Nest. Placed 24 feet from the ground in a hollow limb of iron-bark tree. Entrance 3 inches 
in diameter, depth 12 inches, bottom 4 inches diameter. 
Eggs. Clutch two. Swollen ovals in shape ; ground-colour pinkish-white, well marked 
all over, and particularly at the larger end, with specks and blotches of pale to 
rich reddisli-browm and purplish markings, the latter being chiefly confined to the 
larger end. Surface of shell very fine and slightly glossy. 22 mm. by 17. 
Breeding-season. October, November (to January ?). 
At the present time I have commonly associated with new forms of bird 
life the names of people interested in the study of ornithology, and some of 
my critics have complained, stating that place names were preferable, as the 
old custom of descriptive names is now much more difficult of application 
than in the past. 
Yet how r pleasing would it have been had this species borne the name 
of the ill-fated and gallant Gilbert, as indicated in the note given by Gould : 
“ For this additional species of the limited genus Climacteris , a form confined 
to Australia, we are indebted to Dr. Leichardt’s Expedition from Moreton 
Bay to Port Essington. It w^as killed in latitude 15° 57' south, on the eastern 
side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and is rendered particularly interesting to me 
as being one of the birds procured by poor Gilbert on the day of his lamented 
death, the 28th of June, 1845, which untoward event prevented him from 
recording any particulars respecting it; all, therefore, that I can do, is to 
point out the differences by which it may be distinguished from the other 
members of the genus, and recommend to future observers the investigation 
of its habits. In the dark colouring and thick velvety plumage of the upper- 
surface it is most nearly allied to the ClimucteTis melanurci, but differs from 
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